Response to Rep. Joe Pitts lLetter on Obama regulations

Rep. Joe Pitts’s letter decrying the regulations behind Obamacare as onerous, wasteful, and costly is disappointing for a number of reasons.

Yes, a new national law that pushes America towards close to universal health insurance coverage is complicated, and there is a level of bureaucracy that needs to be created to run the program. Any major change like the Affordable Care Act requires great effort to work towards accomplishing its worthy goals:

1. Universal coverage

2. Children staying on parent’s policy until age 26

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3. No loss of coverage for illness

4. No denying pre-existing conditions

The fact that the law is so complicated is partially due to the compromise that produced the bill ... not true government insurance, like Medicare, but universal coverage through private insurance companies. This requires the primary vehicle for health insurance of workers in the U.S. to continue that role - the employers, and continues a level of complexity and expense inherent

in our system. However, the true savings are targeted when 30 million new Americans are covered by insurance, in theory bringing the cost down for everyone.

So lets reserve judgement after the entire law is in effect.

Rep. Pitts has fought the implementation of any kind of national health care his entire career, but it is sad to see he is still fighting a battle that has already been settled. Wouldn’t a better response be to help Pennsylvania residents receive maximum benefits from this new law? Now that would be true public service.

TOM BUGLIO

West Chester

A misguided borough council

As someone who lives in the North East quadrant of the borough, may I say congratulations and a big “thank you” to those brave souls and pioneers on West Chester Borough Council that just approved spending over $4,000 of our borough budget on “Quiet Signs” for the South East quadrant.

I’m sure that the individuals who tend to disturb the peace will take a moment to read those signs (in the dark, as the ordinance is in place after 9 p.m.), and think twice about screaming, yelling and cursing in the streets of West Chester. Did the council members pat each other on the back after approving this outlay of taxpayers’ funds?

The noise ordinance isn’t new; the introduction of signs to inform the inebriated is.

It’s all a big joke. But, it’s not particularly funny to those of us who live in the borough and pay taxes here. Our taxpayer dollars could be spent more wisely than to advise drunks to “Please be quiet!” How about fixing some of our streets and actually plowing when it snows? Perhaps the council feels that the monies collected from the people that ignore our “Quiet Signs” will pay for these things. I doubt it.